Method for providing on-line game which systematically maintains monster&#39;s aggro points against player character and system thereof

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a method for providing an online game, comprising the steps of: maintaining an event database recording an aggressive point generation function corresponding to each predetermined event; receiving a particular event from a player character; identifying an aggressive point generation function corresponding to the particular event by referring to the event database; generating aggressive point information according to receipt of the particular event, on the basis of the identified aggressive point generation function; recording the generated aggressive point information in a predetermined monster information database in association with the player character; and determining a target for attack of a monster on the basis of the aggressive point information recorded in the monster information database, and a system thereof.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase Application of InternationalApplication PCT Application No. PCT/KR2005/002251 filed on Jul. 13,2005, which claims the benefit of priority from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2004-0054651 filed on Jul. 14, 2004. The disclosuresof International Application PCT Application No. PCT/KR2005/002251 andKorean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0054651 are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to method and system for providing anonline game, and more particularly, to method and system whichsystematically maintain aggressive point information on a playercharacter of a monster, and select a target for attack of the monster onthe basis of the aggressive point information or distribute anexperience point associated with the monster to a plurality of playercharacters.

BACKGROUND ART

An RPG (Role Playing Game) is a game in which a plurality of playercharacters meets with a monster as an example of various NPC (Non PlayerCharacters) during a process for performing a particular quest, andobtains an item belonging to the monster, or increases its abilitythrough a match with the monster, thereby performing the quest, whilecontinuing a game together.

In this RPG, if a player character gives an attack to a monster, themonster reacts to the player character who has given the attack. At thistime, in conventional online game providing method and system, to whichplayer character a monster reacts first when a plurality of playercharacters attacks the monster, and the standard thereof are not clearlydefined. Thus, since a monster reacts only to a player character thathas performed an initial attack to the monster itself or the monsterreacts without a regular rule whenever various player characters attackthe monster itself, gamers' fun obtained through a game is reduced byhalf.

Also, in the conventional online game providing method and system suchabove, since a monster reacts only to a player character that hasperformed an initial attack, a “roundup of mobs”, that is, a particularexpedient of an online RPG, was very popular among gamers.

The “roundup of mobs” is that one player character mobs and hunts down aplurality of monsters. In an online game according to the prior art,since monsters are densely distributed in a particular area where theroundup of mobs is advantageous, the systematic balance of a gamecollapses and gainers not using the roundup of mobs are lack of monstersto hunt down. However, the conventional online game providing method andsystem are not provided with appropriate apparatus capable ofcontrolling the roundup of mobs.

Meanwhile, since the problems as described above reduce gamers'participation desire for a game, consequently profits of an online gamecompany do not increase.

Accordingly, there is required the appearance of new technology whichcan enhance interests of gamers by considerably preventing the so-calledroundup of mobs that one player character mobs and hunts down aplurality of monsters in a game and delicately adjusting variouselements associated with the progress of the game.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Goals

The present invention is conceived to solve the aforementioned problemsin the prior art. Thus, the present invention provides method and systemfor providing an online game, which can prevent a roundup of mobs bysystematically maintaining aggressive point information with respect toa player character of a monster and selecting a target for attack of themonster on the basis of the aggressive point information.

The present invention also provides method and system for providing anonline game, which distribute experience points reasonably enough tosatisfy gamers by systematically using aggressive point information withrespect to a player character of a monster and fairly distributingexperience points associated with the monster to a plurality of playercharacters on the basis of the aggressive point information.

The present invention also provides method and system for providing anonline game, which solve complications between gamers about possessionof a drop item and remove gamers' distrusts about a game company bysystematically using aggressive point information with respect to aplayer character of a monster and having a particular player characterpossess a drop item associated with the monster on the basis of theaggressive point information.

The present invention also provides method and system for providing anonline game, which improve gamers' fan about a game by diversifyingelements involved in generation of aggressive point information andinfluence according to each element.

The present invention also provides method and system for providing anonline game, which can enhance interests of a game through maintenanceof more systematic aggressive point information by dividing theaggressive point information into various types and making disappearanceof aggressive point information and a decrease rate thereof differentialin accordance with each type.

Technical Solutions

In order to achieve the above goals and solve the aforementionedproblems in the prior art, there is provided a method for providing anonline game according to an embodiment of the present invention, themethod including the steps of: maintaining an event database recordingan aggressive point generation function corresponding to eachpredetermined event; receiving a particular event from a playercharacter; identifying an aggressive point generation functioncorresponding to the particular event by referring to the eventdatabase; generating aggressive point information according to receiptof the particular event, on the basis of the identified aggressive pointgeneration function; recording the generated aggressive pointinformation in a predetermined monster information database inassociation with the player character; and determining a target forattack of a monster on the basis of the aggressive point informationrecorded in the monster information database.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod for providing an online game, in which the monster informationdatabase comprises a first, a second, and a third channels, a first, asecond, and a third aggressive points are recorded in the first, thesecond, and the third channels, respectively, each of the events isassociated with at least one channel of the first, the second, and thethird channels, and the aggressive point information is the total of thefirst, the second, and the third aggressive points.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for providing an online game, in which the first aggressivepoint decreases in accordance with a first decreasing function of time,the second aggressive point decreases in accordance with a seconddecreasing function of time, the third aggressive point is maintained tobe regular, and a decrease rate of the first decreasing function islarger than that of the second decreasing function.

Also, there is provided a system for providing an online game accordingto an embodiment of the present invention, the system including: anevent database including an aggressive point generation functioncorresponding to each predetermined event; a user event input unitreceiving a particular event from a player character; an aggressivepoint information generation unit identifying an aggressive pointgeneration function corresponding to the particular event by referringto the event database, and generating aggressive point informationaccording to receipt of the particular event on the basis of theidentified aggressive point generation function; a monster informationdatabase recording the generated aggressive point information inassociation with the player character; and an attack targetdetermination unit determining a target for attack of a monster on thebasis of the aggressive point information recorded in the monsterinformation database.

An online game providing system described as an illustrative example inthe present specification is an online-based game, and particularly, anonline RPG (Role Playing Game) in which the exchange of game items isvery active. This is for convenience of description. Only, it will beapparent to those of ordinary skills in the related art that thetechnical spirits of the present invention may be applied to not only anonline-based game, but also a personal computer-based game or a videoconsole-based game.

Also, a monster continuously used in the present specification indicatesan NPC (Non-Player Character) that acts as an aggressive characteragainst a player character in an online game, and a player charactercontinuing a game indicates an object that obtains an item belonging toa monster by attacking the monster or improves its ability, therebyperforming a quest, that is, that operates in correspondence withcontrol of a game user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram for explaining the schematicoperations of an online game providing system according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the process of generating aggressivepoint information and recording in a monster information database, in anonline game providing method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of an event database, in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an example of a monster informationdatabase, in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process of determining a targetfor attack of a monster on the basis of aggressive point information, inan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the process of distributingexperience points associated with a monster to a plurality of playercharacters on the basis of aggressive point information, in anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the process of connecting a drop itemassociated with a monster with a particular player character on thebasis of aggressive point information, in another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an online game providing systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer whichmay be employed in implementing the online game providing methodaccording to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, online game providing method and system according to thepresent invention will be in detail described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram for explaining the schematicoperations of an online game providing system according to the presentinvention.

An online game providing system 100 is connected to a terminal 115 of agamer 110 and a communication network 120, and serves to provide gameservice to the gamer 110 via the online. In case that the gamer 110 whohas installed a game-related program in the terminal 125 accesses theonline game providing system 100, the game service may be providedthrough the game-related program run by game data or game patchtransmitted to the terminal 125 by the online game providing system 100.The gamer 110 continues a game by using a player character controlled bythe gamer 110 in the game environment.

The gamer 110 may be an internet user who has the terminal 115 to accessthe communication network 120 and receives predetermined game service byreceiving game data or game patch to continue a game from the onlinegame providing system 100 with which the gamer 110 is making apredetermined contract. Also, the gamer 110 controls motions of a playercharacter to continue a game, and receives a monster band from theonline game providing system 100 according to the motions of the playercharacter.

The terminal 115 is a device that maintains a connection state with theonline game providing system 100 through the communication network 120,such as the Internet and a telephone line, and embodies an online gamewhile receiving data necessary to play a game from the online gameproviding system 100. That is, the terminal 125 is a general concept ofterminals having computation capacity by mounting a predetermined memoryunit and a micro processor, for example, a desktop personal computer, anotebook personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobilecommunication terminal, and the like, and capable of accessingwired/wireless communication network.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the process of generating aggressivepoint information and recording in a monster information database, in anonline game providing method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The online game providing method according to the presentinvention is provided at a predetermined online game providing system.

In step 201, the online game providing system maintains an eventdatabase recording an aggressive point generation function correspondingto each predetermined event.

An event may include various types of acts received from a playercharacter in accordance with inputting of a gamer in association withprogress of an online game. Or, the event may include all changes andincidents in a game, satisfying a pre-set standard irrespective of aplayer character.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided amethod for providing an online game, in which the event includes atleast one of an attack trial event, an attack success event, a debufftrial event, and a debuff success event against the monster.

The attack trial event implies that a player character tries to causedamage to a monster through attack against the monster, the attacksuccess event implies that a player character caused damage to a monsterthrough attack against the monster, the debuff trial event implies thata player character tries to put a spell on a monster to weaken itsability, and the debuff success event implies that a player characterput a spell on a monster to weaken its ability.

According to the present embodiment, certain aggressive pointinformation about a player character is given, not only in case that theplayer character succeeds in attacking a monster, but also in case thatthe player character tries to attack. Also, debuff trial or debuffsuccess of a player character against a monster is used as an element ofaggressive point information. That is, since aggressive pointinformation is generated through various acts of a player character,interests on a game get more and aggressive point information formed ofa more reasonable numerical value may be generated.

Also, according to another embodiment of the present invention, theevent may include a heal event or a buff event for another playercharacter.

The heal event implies that a first player character cures a secondplayer character, and the buff event implies that a first playercharacter strengthens the ability of a second player character.Preferably, a monster that becomes to have aggressive point informationwith respect to the first player character by the heal event or the buffevent may have aggressive point information with respect to the secondplayer character before the heal event or buff event occurs. That is, incase that another player character cures a player character about whicha monster has aggressive point information, or strengthens its ability,the monster becomes to have aggressive point information even withrespect to the another player character.

According to the present embodiment, although a gamer does not input adirect act against a monster through his/her player character, in casethat another player character about which the monster already hasaggressive point information is cured or its ability is strengthened,certain aggressive point information with respect to the playercharacter is given to the monster, interests of a game get more, andaggressive point information formed of a more reasonable numerical valuemay be generated.

Also, according to another embodiment of the present invention, theevent may include an approach event within the predetermined distance ofthe visual field associated with a monster, or an attack success eventagainst a player character from the monster.

In the approach event, it is regarded that a gamer may highly possiblyattack a monster in case that the gamer approaches within the certaindistance from the monster, although the gamer does not input anaggressive act against the monster through his/her player character. Theattack success event from a monster has a meaning as a means to continuean attack although a player character does not react to the monster'sattack.

As described above, according to the present invention, since variousevents in a game are involved in generating aggressive pointinformation, the aggressive point information may be updated in realtime, even while the game in progress. Further, since a target forattack of a monster is not fixed to one player character, but changed bya certain standard, there is an effect that the roundup of mobs issignificantly prevented and interests of a game get more.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of an event database accordingto the present invention. In FIG. 3, an event identifier 301 is used toidentify each event. One event corresponds to an event identifier, anaggressive point generation function, and a channel, and for example, adrawing symbol 302 shows that an “attack success” event corresponds toan identifier, “P2M_Damage”, an aggressive point generation function,“Function B”, and a channel, “Third channel”.

Like above, an aggressive point generation function corresponding toeach event is recorded in an event database, and the aggressive pointgeneration function may be pre-set by a game developer or a gameprovider providing an online game to meet the characteristics of eachevent.

Previously, it has been described about an embodiment in which the eventincludes an attack trial event, an attack success event, a debuff trialevent, or a debuff success event against a monster. In the presentembodiment, the aggressive point generation function may take a decreaserate of HP (Hit Point) of a monster according to receipt of the eachevent as at least one variable. The decrease rate of HP of a monsteraccording to receipt of each event may be differential, and even in caseof receiving the same type of events, a decrease degree of HP of themonster may be differential. Accordingly, a numerical value ofaggressive point information may be different in accordance with theintensity of an event as well as the type thereof.

Also, previously, it has been described about an embodiment in which theevent includes a heal event or buff event for another player character.In the present embodiment, the aggressive point generation function maytake an increase rate of HP of said another player character as at leastone variable. Or, the aggressive point generation point may take thelevel difference between a player character and a monster, the attributeof a monster, or an occupation of a player character as additionalvariable.

In step 202, the online game providing system according to the presentinvention receives a particular event from a player character or agamer. The particular event may be at least one of the aforementionedevents.

In step 203, the online game providing system identifies an aggressivepoint generation function corresponding to the particular event byreferring to an event database. In step 204, the online game providingsystem generates aggressive point information according to receipt ofthe particular event on the basis of the identified aggressive pointgeneration function. For example, referring to the drawing symbol 302,in case that the online game providing system receives an “attacksuccess” event from a player character, the online game providing systemmay identify an aggressive point generation function, “Function B”,corresponding to the “attack success” event, and generate aggressivepoint information according to receipt of the “attack success” event inaccordance with an aggressive point generation function, “Function B”.

In step 205, the online game providing system records the generatedaggressive point information in a predetermined monster informationdatabase in association with the player character. FIG. 4 is a viewillustrating an example of the monster information database.

Referring to FIG. 4, a monster of which a monster identifier is “M_id0001” has aggressive point information with respect to a plurality ofplayer characters including “suezo”, “windy”, etc. A monster of which amonster identifier is “M-id 0002” has aggressive point information withrespect to a plurality of player characters including “karma”,“cluster”, etc.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided amethod for providing an online game, in which the monster informationdatabase comprises at least one channel, an aggressive point is recordedin the channel for the each channel, and the aggressive pointinformation is the total of aggressive points recorded in the eachchannel.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the monster information databasecomprising a first, a second, and a third channels according to thepresent embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, the monster having the monsteridentifier “M_id 0001” records a first aggressive point, “50”, in thefirst channel, a second aggressive point, “25”, in the second channel,and a third aggressive point, “100”, in the third channel, respectively,and records the total of the first, the second, and the third aggressivepoints, “175”, as aggressive point information. Like above, ifaggressive point information is maintained in the monster informationdatabase for each channel, it is possible to manage the aggressive pointinformation more organically since the aggressive points changeaccording to time on the basis of the peculiar characteristic of eachchannel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided amethod for providing an online game, in which a first aggressive pointrecorded in a first channel decreases in accordance with a firstdecreasing function of time, a second aggressive point recorded in asecond channel decreases in accordance with a second decreasing functionof time, and a third aggressive point recorded in a third channel ismaintained to be regular, and a decrease rate of the first decreasingfunction is larger than that of the second decreasing function. Thefirst decreasing function or the second decreasing function may changeby a predetermined standard associated with progress of the online game.

In the present embodiment, a first channel is a channel where anaggressive point decreases fastest by time, a second channel is achannel where an aggressive point decreases slowly by time in comparisonwith the first channel, and a third channel is a channel where anaggressive point is maintained to be regular by time without decreasing.

In the meantime, according to an embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a method for providing an online game in which eachevent is recorded in an event database in association with the eachchannel. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the event database recordingeach event in association with each channel.

According to the present invention, aggressive point informationgenerated according to receipt of each event may decrease fast orslowly, or may be maintained to be regular without decreasing byconnecting each event to each channel on the basis of the degree ofdecreasing an ability point of a monster. For example, if “A” eventdecreases an ability point of a monster by “10”, “B” event decreases theability point of the monster by “50”, and “C” event decreases theability point of the monster by “100”, the “A” event may be connected tothe first channel, the “B” event connected to the second channel, andthe “C” event connected to the third channel. That is, in case of anevent causing huge damage to a monster, the monster may continue toattack a player character by maintaining aggressive point information bythe event without decreasing. Also, in case of an event causingcomparatively small damage to a monster, aggressive point informationmay be enabled to disappear by decreasing the aggressive pointinformation fast or slowly according to time on the basis of the degreeof the damage.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided amethod for providing an online game in which, among the aforementionedevents, the attack trial event and the debuff trial event are associatedwith the first channel, the heal event and the buff event are associatedwith the second channel, and the attack success event and the debuffsuccess event are associated with the third channel.

Since the attack trial event and the debuff event cause comparativelysmall damage to a monster, it causes aggressive point information todecrease fast, and since the heal event and the buff event may cause bigdamage to a monster rather than the attack trial event and the debuffevent, it causes aggressive point information to decrease a littleslowly. Also, since the attack success event and the debuff successevent may cause critical damage to a monster, aggressive point ismaintained without decreasing. In this manner, aggressive pointinformation may be maintained more systematically.

Like above, according to the present invention, there is an effect thatit is possible to improve gamers' fun about a game by diversifyingelements involved in generation of aggressive point information andinfluence according to each element. Also, according to the presentinvention, there is another effect that it is possible to enhanceinterests of a game through maintenance of more systematic aggressivepoint information by dividing the aggressive point information intovarious types and making disappearance of aggressive point informationand a decrease rate thereof differential in accordance with each type.

Previously, procedures of generating aggressive point information andrecording in a monster information database and various embodimentsaccording to the procedures have been described. Hereinafter, anembodiment using the aggressive point information as above will bedescribed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process of determining a targetfor attack of a monster on the basis of aggressive point information, inan embodiment of the present invention.

In step 501, the online game providing system recording aggressive pointinformation in a monster information database in association with aplayer character by performing the steps 201 to 205 extracts aggressivepoint information associated with a plurality of player characters fromthe monster information database. In this case, the online gameproviding system may extract aggressive point information associatedwith a plurality of player characters approaching within thepredetermined distance of the visual field associated with a monster, inperforming the step 501.

In step 502, the online game providing system determines a playercharacter of which the extracted aggressive point information is largestamong a plurality of the player characters to be a target for attack ofa monster.

According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it ispossible to can prevent a roundup of mobs by systematically maintainingaggressive point information with respect to a player character of amonster and selecting a target for attack of the monster on the basis ofthe aggressive point information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the process of distributing anexperience point associated with a monster to a plurality of playercharacters on the basis of aggressive point information, in anotherembodiment of the present invention.

In step 601, the online game providing system recording aggressive pointinformation in a monster information database in association with aplayer character by performing the steps 201 to 205 extracts aggressivepoint information associated with a plurality of player characters fromthe monster information database. In this case, the online gameproviding system may extract aggressive point information associatedwith a plurality of player characters approaching within thepredetermined distance of the visual field associated with a monster, inperforming the step 601. Or, the online game providing system mayextract aggressive point information associated with a plurality ofplayer characters participating in a final attack associated with thedisappearance of a monster.

In step 602, the online game providing system distributes the experiencepoint to a plurality of the player characters according to the ratio ofthe each aggressive point information for the total of the extractedaggressive point information.

According to the present embodiment like above, there is an effect thatit is possible to distribute experience points reasonably enough tosatisfy garners by systematically using aggressive point informationwith respect to a player character of a monster and fairly distributingexperience points associated with the monster to a plurality of playercharacters on the basis of the aggressive point information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the process of connecting a drop itemassociated with a monster with a particular player character on thebasis of aggressive point information, in another embodiment of thepresent invention.

In step 701, the online game providing system recording aggressive pointinformation in a monster information database in association with aplayer character by performing the steps 201 to 205 extracts aggressivepoint information associated with a plurality of player characters fromthe monster information database. In this case, the online gameproviding system may extract aggressive point information associatedwith a plurality of player characters approaching within thepredetermined distance of the visual field associated with a monster, inperforming the step 701. Or, the online game providing system mayextract aggressive point information associated with a plurality ofplayer characters participating in a final attack associated with thedisappearance with a monster.

In step 702, the online game providing system connects the drop itemwith the particular player character of which the extracted aggressivepoint information is largest among a plurality of the player characters.

According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it ispossible to solve complications between gamers about possession of adrop item and remove gamers' distrusts about a game company bysystematically using aggressive point information with respect to aplayer character of a monster and having a particular player characterpossess a drop item associated with the monster on the basis of theaggressive point information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in an embodimentdistributing the experience point and an embodiment determiningpossession of a drop item, there is provided a method for providing anonline game in which an event received from a player character includesat least one of an initial attack event, a final attack event, an attacksuccess event, and a debuff success event against the monster, and aheal event and a buff event for a second player character.

In this case, the initial attack event may be associated with a channelwhere an aggressive point decreases in accordance with a predetermineddecreasing function of time, and the final attack event, the attacksuccess event, the debuff success event, the heal event, and the buffevent may be associated with a channel where an aggressive point ismaintained to be regular without decreasing.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve a gamer'sfun about a game by diversifying elements involved in generation ofaggressive point information and the influence according to eachelement. Also, it is possible to distribute an experience point andsolve a problem about possession of a drop item in a reasonable mannerthrough the more systematic maintenance of aggressive point informationby dividing aggressive point information into various elements andmaking disappearance of aggressive point information and a decrease ratethereof differential in accordance with each type.

The embodiments of the present invention include computer readable mediaincluding program instructions to implement various operations embodiedby a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination withthe program instructions, data files, data structures, tables, and thelike. The media and program instructions may be those specially designedand constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they maybe of the kind well known and available to those having skill in thecomputer software arts.

Hereinafter, an online game providing system according to an embodimentof the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagramillustrating the online game providing system according to the presentembodiment.

An online game providing system 800 according to the present embodimentcomprises an event database 801, a user event input unit 802, anaggressive point information generation unit 803, a monster informationdatabase 804, and an attack target determination unit 805.

The event database 801 includes an aggressive point generation functioncorresponding to each predetermined event. FIG. 3 is a view illustratingan example of the event database 801. Since FIG. 3 has been described inthe present specification, detailed description related thereto will beomitted here.

The user event input unit 802 receives a particular event from a playercharacter or a gamer.

The aggressive point information generation unit 803 identifies anaggressive point generation function corresponding to the particularevent by referring to the event database 801, and generates aggressivepoint information according to receipt of the particular event on thebasis of the identified aggressive point generation function.

The monster information database 804 records the generated aggressivepoint information in association with the player character. FIG. 4 is aview illustrating an example of the monster information database 804.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is providedthe online game providing system 800 in which the monster informationdatabase 804 comprises at least one channel, an aggressive point isrecorded in the channel for the each channel, and the aggressive pointinformation is the total of aggressive points recorded in the eachchannel. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the monster informationdatabase 804 comprising a first, a second, and a third channelsaccording to the present invention. Like above, if aggressive pointinformation is maintained in the monster information database 804 foreach channel, it is possible to manage the aggressive point informationmore organically since the aggressive point changes according to time onthe basis of the peculiar characteristic of each channel. Since FIG. 4has been described in the present specification, detailed descriptionrelated to will be omitted here.

The attack target determination unit 805 determines a target for attackof a monster on the basis of the aggressive point information recordedin the monster information database 804. For this, the attack targetdetermination unit 805 may extract aggressive point informationassociated with a plurality of player characters from the monsterinformation database 804. At this time, the attack target determinationunit 805 may extract aggressive point information associated with aplurality of player characters approaching within the predetermineddistance of the visual field associated with a monster.

On the basis of the aggressive point information extracted as above, theattack target determination unit 805 may determine a player character ofwhich the extracted aggressive point information is largest among aplurality of the player characters to be a target for attack of amonster.

According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it ispossible to prevent roundup of mobs by systematically maintainingaggressive point information with respect to a player character of amonster and selecting a target for attack of the monster on the basis ofthe aggressive point information.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, theonline game providing system 800 may further comprise an experiencepoint distribution unit (not illustrated) distributing an experiencepoint associated with a monster to a plurality of player characters onthe basis of the aggressive point information recorded in the monsterinformation database 804, instead of the attack target determinationunit 805 or additionally.

In the present embodiment, the experience point distribution unitextracts aggressive point information associated with a plurality ofplayer characters from the monster information database 804. In thiscase, the experience point distribution unit may extract aggressivepoint information associated with a plurality of player charactersapproaching within the predetermined distance of the visual fieldassociated with a monster. Or, the experience point distribution unitmay extract aggressive point information associated with a plurality ofplayer characters participating in a final attack associated with thedisappearance of a monster.

On the basis of the aggressive point information extracted such above,the experience point distribution unit distributes the experience pointto a plurality of the player characters in accordance with the ratio ofthe each aggressive point information for the total of the extractedaggressive point information.

According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it ispossible to distribute an experience point reasonably enough to satisfygamers by systematically using aggressive point information with respectto a player character of a monster and fairly distributing an experiencepoint associated with a monster to a plurality of player characters onthe basis of the aggressive point information.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, theonline game providing system 800 may further comprise a drop itemprocessing unit (not illustrated) connecting a drop item associated witha monster with a particular player character on the basis of theaggressive point information recorded in the monster informationdatabase 804, instead of the attack target determination unit 805 oradditionally.

In the present embodiment, the drop item processing unit extractsaggressive point information associated with a plurality of playercharacters from the monster information database 804. In this case, thedrop item processing unit may extract aggressive point informationassociated with a plurality of player characters approaching within thepredetermined distance of the visual field associated with a monster.Or, the drop item processing unit may extract aggressive pointinformation associated with a plurality of player charactersparticipating in a final attack associated with the disappearance of amonster.

On the basis of the aggressive point information extracted such above,the drop item processing unit connects the drop item with a particularcharacter of which the extracted aggressive point information is largestamong a plurality of the player characters.

According to the present embodiment, there is an effect that it ispossible to solve complications between gamers about possession of adrop item and remove gamers' distrusts about a game company bysystematically using aggressive point information with respect to aplayer character of a monster and having a particular player characterpossess a drop item associated with the monster on the basis of theaggressive point information.

FIG. 9 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer whichmay be employed in implementing the online game providing methodaccording to the present invention.

The computer system 900 includes any number of processors 910 (alsoreferred to as central processing units, or CPUs) that are coupled tostorage devices including primary storage (typically a random accessmemory, or “RAM 920”), primary storage (typically a read only memory, or“ROM 930”). As is well known in the art, ROM 930 acts to transfer dataand instructions uni-directionally to the CPU and RAM 920 is usedtypically to transfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner.Both of these primary storage devices may include any suitable type ofthe computer-readable media described above. A mass storage device 940is also coupled bi-directionally to CPU and provides additional datastorage capacity and may include any of the computer-readable mediadescribed above. The mass storage device 940 may be used to storeprograms, data and the like and is typically a secondary storage mediumsuch as a hard disk that is slower than primary storage. A specific massstorage device such as a CD-ROM 960 may also pass data uni-directionallyto the CPU. Processor 910 is also coupled to an interface 950 thatincludes one or more input/output devices such as such as videomonitors, track balls, mice, keyboards, microphones, touch-sensitivedisplays, transducer card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers,tablets, styluses, voice or handwriting recognizers, or other well-knowninput devices such as, of course, other computers. Finally, processor910 optionally may be coupled to a computer or telecommunicationsnetwork using a network connection as shown generally at 970. With sucha network connection, it is contemplated that the CPU might receiveinformation from the network, or might output information to the networkin the course of performing the above-described method steps. Theabove-described devices and materials will be familiar to those of skillin the computer hardware and software arts.

The hardware elements above may be configured to act as one or moresoftware modules for implementing the operations of this invention.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with theembodiment of the present invention illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, it is not limited thereto since it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various substitutions, modifications and changesmay be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention.

Therefore, it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined bythe claims appended thereto and their equivalents.

As used in this application, the term “unit” is intended to refer to,but is not limited to, a software or hardware component, which performscertain tasks. A unit or component may advantageously be configured toreside on the addressable storage medium and configured to execute onone or more processors. Thus, a unit or component may include, by way ofexample, components, such as software components, object-orientedsoftware components, class components and task components, processes,functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of programcode, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, datastructures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality providedfor in the components and units may be combined into fewer componentsand units or further separated into additional components and units.Thus. there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novelinvention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspectsof the present invention are not limited by the particular details ofthe examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated thatother modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occurto those skilled in the art. The teems “having” and “including” andsimilar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in thesense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Manychanges, modifications, variations and other uses and applications ofthe present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilledin the art after considering the specification and the accompanyingdrawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses andapplications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limitedonly by the claims which follow. The scope of the disclosure is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to beaccorded the full scope consistent with the claims, wherein reference toan element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one”unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structuraland functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodimentsdescribed throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to beknown to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporatedherein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims.Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to thepublic regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited inthe claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of35 U.S.C. Section 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expresslyrecited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim,the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to online game providing method and system of the presentinvention, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent roundup ofmobs by systematically maintaining aggressive point information withrespect to a player character of a monster and selecting a target forattack of the monster on the basis of the aggressive point information.

According to online game providing method and system of the presentinvention, there is an effect that it is possible to distributeexperience points reasonably enough to satisfy gamers by systematicallyusing aggressive point information with respect to a player character ofa monster and fairly distributing experience points associated with themonster to a plurality of player characters on the basis of theaggressive point information.

According to online game providing method and system of the presentinvention, there is an effect that it is possible to solve complicationsbetween gamers about possession of a drop item and remove gamers'distrusts about a game company by systematically using aggressive pointinformation with respect to a player character of a monster and having aparticular player character possess a drop item associated with themonster on the basis of the aggressive point information.

According to online game providing method and system of the presentinvention, there is an effect that it is possible to improve gamers' funabout a game by diversifying elements involved in generation ofaggressive point information and influence according to each element.

According to online game providing method and system of the presentinvention, there is an effect that it is possible to enhance interestsof a game through maintenance of more systematic aggressive pointinformation by dividing the aggressive point information into varioustypes and making disappearance of aggressive point information and adecrease rate thereof differential in accordance with each type.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for providing an online game usinga processor, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of events froma plurality of player characters, each event being specified by an eventidentifier and each event having a designated respective aggressivepoint generation functions and channels; generating, by the processor,an aggressiveness point information by accumulating aggressivenesspoints for each channel performed by each player character, theaggressiveness point information corresponding to each event, wherein adatabase is configured to record the accumulated aggressiveness pointinformation corresponding to the respective player characters, whereinthe aggressiveness point information is provided to determine a targetassociated with attacking non-player characters of the online game, andthe channels have different time lapse rates for decrease of theaccumulated aggressiveness points, each event is associated with atleast one of the channels, and the accumulated aggressiveness pointsdecrease at different time lapse rates according to the channels.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein providing information associated with theonline game further comprises: extracting aggressiveness pointinformation associated with the plurality of player characters from thedatabase; and determining, by the processor, a player charactercomprising the largest aggressiveness point information among theplurality of the player characters to be information of a target for anattack.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of eventscomprise an attack trial event, an attack success event, a debuff trialevent, and a debuff success event against the monster.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of events comprise a heal event and abuff event associated with one of the player characters.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the aggressiveness point generation functioncomprises an increase rate of Hit Point (HP) of one of the playercharacters or a decrease rate of Hit Point (HP) of the monster inresponse to receipt of the each event.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of events comprise an approach event within thepredetermined distance of the visual field associated with a gamecharacter.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises afirst channel, a second channel, and a third channel, wherein a firstaggressiveness point, a second aggressiveness point, and a thirdaggressiveness point are recorded in the respective first channel, thesecond channel, and the third channel, and each event is associated withat least one of the first channel, the second channel, and the thirdchannel, and the aggressiveness point information is the total of thefirst aggressiveness point, the second aggressiveness point, and thethird aggressiveness point.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the firstaggressiveness point decreases in accordance with a first decreasingfunction of time, the second aggressiveness point decreases inaccordance with a second decreasing function of time, the thirdaggressiveness point is maintained to be regular, and a decrease rate ofthe first decreasing function is greater than that of the seconddecreasing function.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the eventscomprise at least one of an attack trial event, an attack success event,a debuff trial event, and a debuff success event against a gamecharacter, and a heal event and a buff event for one of the playercharacters, and wherein the attack trial event or the debuff trial eventis associated with the first channel, the heal event or the buff eventis associated with the second channel, and the attack success event orthe debuff success event is associated with the third channel.
 10. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising an executableprogram, which when executed, performs the steps of: receiving aplurality of events from a plurality of player characters, each eventbeing specified by an event identifier and each event having adesignated respective aggressive point generation functions andchannels; generating, by the processor, an aggressiveness pointinformation by accumulating aggressiveness points for each channelperformed by each player character, the aggressiveness point informationcorresponding to each event, wherein a database is configured to recordthe accumulated aggressiveness point information corresponding to therespective player characters, wherein the aggressiveness pointinformation is provided to determine a target associated with attackingnon-player characters of the online game, and the channels havedifferent time lapse rates for decrease of the accumulatedaggressiveness points, each event is associated with at least one of thechannels, and the accumulated aggressiveness points decrease atdifferent time lapse rates according to the channels.
 11. A systemcomprising at least one processor and at least one database causing thesystem for providing an online game, the system comprising: a user eventinput unit to receive a plurality of events from a plurality of playercharacters, each event being specified by an event identifier and eachevent having a designated respective aggressive point generationfunctions and channels; an aggressiveness point information generationunit coupled to one of the processor to identify one of theaggressiveness point generation functions and to generate anaggressiveness point information corresponding to one of the events byaccumulating aggressiveness points performed by each player character byreferring to the database in response to receipt of the one of theevents based on the identified aggressiveness point generation function;and a database to record the generated aggressiveness point informationin association with one of the plurality of player characters, whereinthe channels have different time lapse rates for decrease of theaccumulated aggressiveness points, each event is associated with atleast one of the channels, and the accumulated aggressiveness pointsdecrease at different time lapse rates according to the channels. 12.The system of claim 11, further comprising: an attack targetdetermination unit to determine a target for attack of a monster on thebasis of the aggressiveness aggressive point information recorded in thedatabase.
 13. The system of claim 11, further comprising: an experiencepoint distribution unit to distribute an experience point associatedwith a monster to a plurality of player characters on the basis of theaggressiveness point information recorded in the database.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, further comprising: a drop item processing unit toconnect a drop item associated with a monster with a particular playercharacter on the basis of the aggressiveness point information recordedin the database.
 15. The method of claim 2, wherein the extractingaggressive point information is performed according to the plurality ofplayer characters approaching within a predetermined distance of avisual field associated with the non-player characters.
 16. The methodof claim 2, wherein the extracting aggressive point information isperformed according to the plurality of player characters participatingin the attacking non-player characters associated with disappearance ofthe non-player characters.